Malaysia Looking to Wean Itself Off Dollar Dependency

Credit Saison, one of the largest credit card issuers in Japan, is accelerating its global venture strategy with the creation of Onigiri Capital, a new fund targeting early-stage startups building on blockchain technology. Set up in Singapore last month through Credit Saison’s corporate venture arm, Saison Capital, the vehicle is aiming for up to $50 million in commitments and will run for 10 years, with an optional two-year extension. The fund has already secured $35 million toward its target.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashBuilding on a fintech track recordThe initiative is part of Credit Saison’s broader plan to expand in emerging markets and spur innovation in financial services, drawing on Saison Capital’s track record. Established in 2019, the venture arm has backed fintech startups across Asia and, since 2021, has increasingly focused on blockchain-based finance, investing in more than 40 companies. The firm said those investments laid the groundwork for Onigiri Capital, which will also enable other financial institutions to invest alongside Credit Saison in promising blockchain ventures. Onigiri Capital will concentrate on five areas: stablecoins, payments, asset tokenization, decentralized finance (DeFi), and financial infrastructure. The fund will invest primarily at the seed and early stages, with an emphasis on long-term growth. Managing the fund are Qin En Looi, a partner at Saison Capital involved in over 40 blockchain investments, and Hans de Back, a venture investor with more than two decades of experience. Cross-border stablecoin pilotThe launch comes as Japan steps up efforts in digital assets beyond investment alone. According to Electronic Times, the first phase of “Project Pax,” a cross-border stablecoin remittance pilot involving financial institutions in Japan and South Korea, concluded successfully last week. Participants were Progmat—a tokenization platform backed by a consortium of major institutions, including MUFG—along with Datachain and Shoko Chukin Bank from Japan, and Shinhan Bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, and Kbank from South Korea. Fair Square Lab and Korea Digital Asset Custody helped develop an application programming interface (API) for the trial. The pilot demonstrated the feasibility of a network that converts fiat currency into stablecoins for on-chain transfers and then back into local currency at the destination, an approach expected to reduce the time and cost of cross-border payments. The results add momentum to Japan’s bid to modernize financial infrastructure, a backdrop that Onigiri Capital aims to capitalize on as it deploys capital into the sector. 

Upbit Accidentally Accepts Counterfeit APT Tokens, Initiates Retrieval EffortsUpbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is reported to have accepted deposits of counterfeit Aptos (APT) tokens, mistaking them for their legitimate counterparts. The exchange has been reaching out to the sellers of these tokens by phone, requesting their recovery. This news has been circulating in several online crypto communities since the afternoon of September 24 (Korea Standard Time).Photo by Kenny Eliason on UnsplashUpbit’s responsesOn September 24 at 15:47 KST, Upbit announced a temporary suspension of deposit and withdrawal services for APT due to maintenance on the APT wallet. Following this, at 22:32 KST on the same day, Upbit explained that system maintenance was undertaken after identifying an unusual attempt linked to APT deposits. The crypto exchange went on to announce that the deposit and withdrawal services for APT would resume at 23:00 KST on the same day.DeFi degenerates’ insightsIn relation to this incident, Definalist, a group of DeFi degenerates based in Korea, shared insights on X (formerly Twitter). The group stated: “It seems that during the process of reflecting $APT coin deposits, there was a failure to check the type arguments, and all same functions transfers were recognized as the same APT native token. … If all APT ecosystem tokens were sent to Upbit’s wallet, they would have been mistakenly treated as APT native coins.”Decimal place differenceDefinalist also remarked on the fortunate nature of the counterfeit APT token having six decimal places, in contrast to the authentic APT token’s eight. They noted that if the deceptive token had mirrored the genuine token’s decimal places, the market disruption could have amplified a hundredfold. Meanwhile, the value of the counterfeit APT tokens deposited into Upbit is estimated to be about KRW 20 million (approximately $15,000).

Several Japanese companies, including Remixpoint and Metaplanet, have been increasing their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, underscoring the growing institutional interest in cryptocurrencies in the region.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashRemixpoint, an energy consulting firm listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, recently announced an additional purchase of 32.83 BTC valued at 500 million yen ($3.4 million), according to local news outlet CoinPost. This acquisition took place on May 13 at an average price of 15.23 million yen ($104,270) per BTC, bringing the company's total BTC holdings to 648.82 BTC. Remixpoint's crypto portfolio, including BTC, is now valued at 11.1 billion yen ($76 million) and also comprises Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE). The firm began actively accumulating BTC late last year, motivated by multiple factors, including the positive price trend following the latest Bitcoin halving event, increased market activity after the latest U.S. presidential election and the growth in institutional participation, particularly after the approval of spot crypto ETFs in the U.S. Metaplanet becomes a major BTC holderAnother notable player, Metaplanet, a publicly traded Japanese company specializing in Bitcoin investment, has positioned itself as one of the largest BTC holders globally. As of May 12, Metaplanet’s Bitcoin yield reached 170%, with total holdings of 6,796 BTC. This places it as the 11th largest Bitcoin holder worldwide and the largest in Asia, surpassing El Salvador, which currently holds 6,177 BTC, according to data from Arkham. Metaplanet's ongoing Bitcoin accumulation aligns with CEO Simon Gerovich's advocacy for Bitcoin. In a March podcast, Gerovich said he encourages his friends to allocate "100% of their net worth into Bitcoin." The company’s strategic goal is to amass 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025 and 21,000 BTC by 2026. Reinforcing its influence, Metaplanet appointed Eric Trump, the second son of pro-crypto U.S. President Donald Trump, to its newly formed Strategic Board of Advisors in January. Evolving crypto policies, including national reservesBefore Trump's second term, Gerovich expressed his expectation that other countries would follow the U.S. once it established a national Bitcoin strategic reserve—a move formalized by President Trump through an executive order in March. In a related development, Ukraine is reportedly drafting a bill to create a similar reserve in collaboration with Binance. Meanwhile, in Taiwan, lawmaker Ko Ju-Chun has been advocating for adding Bitcoin to the country's national reserves. In a similar trend, another Japanese firm, Value Creation, disclosed plans last month to acquire 100 million yen ($660,000) worth of Bitcoin, further reflecting the growing interest among Japanese companies in crypto investments. Complementing this corporate adoption trend, Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has been shaping its regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The agency aims to redefine digital assets as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, a move viewed as an attempt to balance innovation with investor protection. Building on this approach, an FSA discussion paper released on April 10, which remained open for public feedback until May 10, proposed classifying crypto assets into two categories: those used for fundraising and business activities, and those that are not—such as BTC and ETH. This regulatory evolution, alongside increasing corporate investment in BTC, reflects Japan's efforts to adapt to the evolving global crypto landscape.